Friday; September 13

In my thought for yesterday I mentioned a social issue that is facing our nation – homelessness – and challenged us to do what we can to make a difference in the lives of the people who need us.  As I thought about this challenge, it got me to thinking about something else, loneliness.  If homelessness is a silent problem, loneliness is a hidden problem.  By their very nature, people who are lonely are typically ignored.  It’s not that they (necessarily) bring it on themselves, they just feel it more intensely.  Whether they want to be around people or not, they haven’t found a way to connect in meaningful relationships.  So, what can we do to help the lonely?
1.  Talk to people – especially those you don’t know.  When we take the time to have genuine interactions with people, we can help them feel valuable.  Often, just a simple (but sincere) conversation with someone can leave them more confident and engaged with life.
2.  Smile at people.  When we take the time to make eye contact with people and smile at them, we give off a sense of concern.  No, this might not bring someone out of their shell, but it might be the beginning of stirring something inside them that will help them feel better about who they are.
3.  Touch people.  Again, we live in an era when physical contact can be deemed to be scary, but people need people.  It might be as simple as a warm handshake or the touch on their elbow but combining affirming words with appropriate physical contact can bring warmth to cold, dark existence.
          Loneliness can be overwhelming.  Let’s do our best to break down the barriers that separate lonely people from others.  Who knows, maybe our small gesture will be the one thing that makes someone’s day.
          Think About It!

Popular posts from this blog

Thursday; May 3

I have a fish tank that allows my three Bettas (Larry, Darrell and Darrell) to live in the same structure, but remain hidden from each other – well sort of.   When I go to feed the fish, I believe that one of the Darrell’s can sort of see that the other Darrell is getting fed and he will linger over on that side of the tank even after I put his food in his tank.   I have to tap on the side of the tank where his food is floating to help him refocus and eat.   I get the impression that he is so interested in what is going on in the other Darrell’s tank that he can’t enjoy his own food. I have been told that the brain of a fish is pretty small – which explains their inability to process “blessings”, but are we guilty of the same malady as Darrell?   Are we so worried (or consumed) by what happens to the people around us that we fail to realize what is going on with us?   Are we envious of the blessings that others are receiving and end up missing out on what we have been given?   Are w
Read more

Thursday; February 14

         While most of us are familiar with today being Valentine’s Day, there are some who actually refer to February 14 th as “St. Valentine’s Day”.  This title is often affixed to a criminally historic event known as “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” on February 14, 1929 in Chicago, but that is another story for another time.  Not knowing much about the history of “Saint Valentine” I did a little research and found out he was a Roman religious leader who was martyred in 269 AD.  According to my limited research Valentine was killed because of his encouragement of Roman men (especially soldiers) to marry which was in violation of Claudias’ edict that prohibited marriage to keep their minds singularly focused on their task of defending the Empire.  Somehow, from this beginning – and possibly embellished by Chaucer – St. Valentine became intertwined with the concept of romantic love.           I am not really sure how February 14 th became connected with love, but inspired by thi
Read more

Wednesday; December 6

What does it mean to be a leader? I subscribe to the belief that a leader is someone who seeks the best for others and works with them to achieve their potential. There are others; however, who define leadership as the ability to have a vision and the tenacity to get their own way. Leaders who are this way are often portrayed as having developed the maturity to manipulate people to do things their way. However, is the ability to drive people in our direction mature or is it childish? The Christians of the 1st Century came from a lot of different backgrounds and had to work hard to work together. As the Apostle Paul challenged Christians in the city of Ephesus he challenged them to accept individual differences, “… until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. “ (Ephesians 4:13). Bossiness was not to be viewed as a sign of maturity, a willingness to wo
Read more